SEQ Cadet and Rookie Titles
| by Geoff Salmon, Sportsvoice. | 6 September 2013 |
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IPSWICH KART CLUB – 31ST AUGUST 2013
Featuring the SEQ Cadet and Rookie Titles 2013
Sponsored by Champion Way Kart Supplies and Ash Prestige Automotive
Saturday 31st August 2013 dawned with a promise of fair weather and some exciting racing to this Annual slugfest of competition between the youngest of the karting fraternity, and welcomed to 197 competitors to the Annual Cadets and Rookies Titles at Ipswich Kart Club.
A field of 34 Cadets and 24 Rookies to do battle over a total of 43 laps with the following format of 1x5 minute qualifying session with 2 heats of 8 laps, both heats gridded from the qualifying session, a prefinal of 12 laps and a final of 15 laps.
Cadets Qualifying
After the 5 minute session the top ten times were as follows; Pole Bayley Douglas (#37) 58.202; P2 Lachlan Hughes (#15) 58.316; P3 Zayd Tones (#27) 58.411; P4 Broc Feeney (#99) 58.596; P5 Michael Philp (#51) 58.812; P6 Jai Brown (#9) 58.890; P7 Jaydon Wilcox (#2) 58.944; P8 Charlie Ploetz (#91) 59.036; P9 Sean Bolger (#4) 59.103; P10 Tristan lambert (#50) 59.149. With the first and second heat grids to be the same it was important for any one of these youngsters to finish well.
Cadets Heat 1
With the first heat over 8 laps Lachlan Hughes (#15) led the first lap closely followed by Broc Feeney (#99) in second; third also chasing hard came Jai Brown (#9) off P6 at the start; Zayd Tones also with a great start currently in fourth with Bayley Douglas (#37) slow away back in fifth. The second lap saw Broc Feeney (#99) take over in front; second Lachlan Hughes (#15) third Zayd Tones (#27) moving forward with Bayley Douglas (#37) up one spot to fourth; Jai Brown (#9) dropping back to fifth. Lap three saw no change in the first four for the remainder of the heat, whilst Declan Matthews (#8) drove through from a fifth row start up into fifth finally getting the better of Michael Philp (#51) on lap seven with Jaydon Wilcox (#2) finishing strongly in sixth; Michael Philp (#51) in seventh; eighth place going to Austin Wells (#89) starting from tenth; ninth Jai Brown (#9) not having the best of luck in the first heat and tenth to Riley Le Garde (#98). The fastest lap recorded in the first heat going to Bayley Douglas (#37) a 58.001 on lap seven.
Cadets Heat 2
Same grid positions as the first heat and over the same distance 8 laps and Lachlan Hughes (#15) again jumped well to lead the first two laps closely followed by Broc Feeney (#99); who on lap three took over the lead; it was a battle royal between these two all the way up to the last lap when Bayley Douglas (#37); who had been following this action for the first seven laps passed both Lachlan Hughes (#15) and Broc Feeney (#99) on lap eight to take a well-deserved win; with Lachlan Hughes (#15) in second and Broc Feeney (#99) finishing in third. Zayd Tones (#27) fifth on the first lap fought a great battle with Jai Brown (#9) throughout to finish fourth from Jai Brown (#9) in fifth an all the way sixth going to Charlie Ploetz (#91) over a similar run from Michael Philp (#51) in seventh Declan Matthews finishing eighth after driving forward from twelfth on lap one; ninth to Thomas Cooper (#55) with Austin Wells (#89) finishing in the tenth spot. The fastest lap recorded in the second heat going to Bayley Douglas (#37) again a 58.204 on lap four.
Cadets Prefinal
With points totalled after the first two heats the front row of the prefinal was to see Broc Feeney (#99) and Lachlan Hughes (#15) start off the front row; a mixed bag of potential winners filling the next two rows; Broc Feeney (#99) led the first two laps being chased by Bayley Douglas (#37); Douglas getting through into the top spot on lap three Lachlan Hughes (#15) never far out of contention sitting back in third until the fifth lap before accomplishing a move past Broc Feeney (#99) up into second before another pass one lap later on Bayley Douglas (#37) up into first; the battle between these two young drivers was to continue throughout the rest of the prefinal with Douglas finally taking the win after a pass on the final lap. Lachlan Hughes (#15) finishing in second; third after a similar struggle with Broc Feeney (#99) finally again on the last lap taking the third position from Feeney who had dropped back to fourth after a promising run early. Declan Matthews and Austin Wells were to follow suit and fight out fifth and sixth with a gain a last lap pass to see Austin Wells (#89) crossing the line in fifth followed by Declan Matthews (#8) sixth; seventh going to Thomas Cooper (#55) eighth to Michael Philp (#51) ninth to cross the line Oscar Comley (#80) and Charlie Ploetz (#91) rounding out the top ten. The fastest lap recorded in the prefinal going to Bayley Douglas (#37) again a 58.252 on lap nine.
Cadets Final
If we had enjoyed the two heats and prefinal of the SEQ Cadets Titles so far we were definitely in for a treat in the 15 lap final.
As per the finishing order of the prefinal we saw Douglas Bailey (#37) and Lachlan Hughes (#15) set to continue the struggle for supremacy with a cast of youngsters looking to defeat the two drivers who had dominated in this class all day. Lachlan Hughes (#15) was to lead the final for the first nine laps from Douglas Bailey (#37) and Broc Feeney (#99) with Zayd Tones (#27) looking on to take advantage of any cracks that might appear. On lap 10 Bailey made his move on Hughes moving to the front; on lap eleven Tones moved past Feeney into third this lasted just one lap before Broc Feeney fought back past and retook the third spot from Zayd Tones; one lap later the positions where to be reversed again with Feeney back to third Zayd Tones was not to be outdone and attacked again retaking the position on the penultimate lap to finish in front of Broc Feeney (#99) who after a great battle had to be content with fourth place. Whilst this was catching ever body’s attention the outright battle for overall honours had increased its momentum with Bayley Douglas having lead from ten through fourteen and looking like taking the win had it stolen on the last lap by the never give up determination of Lachlan Hughes who won by the narrowest of margins; just 79 one hundreds of a second determined the winning margin between the first two drivers. Wow; what a race the final positions looked like this; first Lachlan Hughes (#15) second Douglas Bailey (#37) third Zayd Tones (#27) fourth Broc Feeney (#99) and fifth to Jai Brown (#9) what a race what a final 34 of the East Coast of Australia’s best Cadets coming together in the spirit of competition and the crowd coming to their feet and showing their approval with resounding applause. The fastest lap in the final went again to Bayley Douglas (#37); he may have run second in the Title event but he recorded a 58.462 on lap twelve of fifteen to finish with the five best lap times throughout the event.
The Club would like to thank the sponsors that made this event such a memorable event; the major sponsors Champion Way Kart Supplies and Ash Prestige Automotive.
SEQ ROOKIES TITLE
24 drivers took to the track for their 5 minute time trial session and at the completion the top ten grids for the first two heats looked like this; Pole Harrison Hoey (#97) 56.513; P2 Jace Matthews (#8) 56.727; P3 Zak Hudson (#18) 56.755; P4 Jayden Gollan (#6) 56.806; P5 Josh Radford (#2) 56.829; P6 Joel Jamieson (#21) 56.849; P7 Jack Doohan (#3) 56.973; P8 Samuel Polsen (#23) 57.033; P9 Ryan Suhle (#5) 57.311; P10 Jarrad Costello (#47) 57.382.
Rookies Heat 1
Jace Matthews (#8) drove away to lead the first three laps from Jayden Gollan (#6) before Harrison Hoey (#97) moved to the front on lap 4, Hoey didn’t have it all his own way with Jack Doohan (#3) moving through to second on the sixth lap Zak Hudson (#18) also moving forward to third on the same lap; with Hoey relegated back to fourth; Jayden Gollan (#6) taking the lead for one lap on six before dropping back to second behind Doohan; Ryan Suhle eighth after the first lap driving forward to finish in fifth position at the completion of the heat. The results after the eight laps were completed saw Jack Doohan (#3) take the win from Jayden Gollan (#6) by a margin of .469 of a second with Zak Hudson (#18) finishing just .128 of a second further back; fourth to Harrison Hoey (#97) fifth to Ryan Suhle (#5) from eighth on lap one; sixth Jace Matthews (#8) as low as seventh before recovering to finish sixth; seventh to Joel Jamieson (#21) eighth Josh Radford (#84) ninth Max Adams (#4) consistent throughout and Samuel Polsen (#23) making up three spots over the eight laps of racing. Fastest lap a 56.455 recorded by Jack Doohan (#3) on lap three.
Rookies Heat 2
Harrison Horey (#97) led the first five laps before dropping back behind Jace Matthews (#8) then retook the lead on lap seven to go on and take the win; Jace Matthews finishing just 41 one hundreds of a second back in second; Jack Doohan (#3) making up one spot throughout to finish third; fourth going to Zak Hudson (#18) consistency playing a big role in racing today; fifth Jayden Gollan (#6) again consistent; sixth to Ryan Suhle (#5) again as the two before; consistent; in a format that the rewards come in the final; seventh going to Joel Jamieson (#21) eighth Max Adams (#4) ninth to Josh Radford (#84) and to complete the first ten placing’s Jarrod Costello (#47). The fastest lap recorded a 56.660 by Jace Matthews (#8) in lap four.
Rookies Pre Final
Jack Doohan (#3) led for the first two laps before Harrison Hoey (#97) moved past on the third lap to control the race through until the completion of the twelve laps; Jayden Gollan (#6) driving well to snatch third on the last lap from Ryan Suhle (#5); fifth going to Jace Matthews (#8) dropping two laps from his first lap position of third; Joel Jamieson (#21) finishing well moving up three positions from the start to finish sixth; seventh Josh Radford (#84) moving forward from eleventh on lap one; eighth Jarrod Costello (#47); ninth Samuel Polsen (#23) a great run from fifteenth on lap one; tenth in the prefinal going to Benjamin Deissler (#78) first time into the top ten.
The fastest lap recorded a 56.584 by Jack Doohan (#3) our second place finisher in lap nine.
Rookies Final
As with the Cadets final we had the components to see some great racing over the fifteen laps of the final.
Harrison Hoey (#97) obviously conserving himself in the lead up to the final jumped away and was not headed throughout. Jayden Gollan (#6) also well understanding of the format, he too raced away to hold second spot throughout; Ryan Suhle (#5) moving forward from fifth on the first lap to secure third place in the final; Jace Matthews running third for the first eight laps dropped back to fourth on lap nine to finish fourth after a race long battle with Jack Doohan (#3) throughout, Doohan finishing fifth; Joel Jamieson running seventh for the first four laps before passing Josh Radford on the following lap to finish sixth; seventh to Radford; eighth to Jarrod Costello (#47) ninth to Samuel Polsen (#23) who after the race was over was disqualified for a misdemeanour; elevating Max Adams up to ninth and to round out the top ten in another brilliant days racing by the second youngest drivers on the day was Zak Hudson (#18). The fastest lap recorded in the final going to Harrison Hoey (#97) with a time of 56.564 on lap eleven.
Again to our sponsors Champion Way Kart Supplies and Ash Prestige Automotive thank you for your magnificent support of the youngest of our sport on their special day.
The next meeting to be held at Ipswich Kart Club will be on the 5th October for the seventh round of the Club Championship.
Until then Bye for now.
Geoff Salmon – Sportsvoice.
